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By The Numbers: 20 Facts About The Collapse Of Europe That Everyone Should Know

By Michael Snyder, on January 8th, 2013

The economic implosion of Europe is accelerating. Even while the mainstream media continues to proclaim that the financial crisis in Europe has been “averted”, the economic statistics that are coming out of Europe just continue to get worse. Manufacturing activity in Europe has been contracting month after month, the unemployment rate in the eurozone has hit yet another brand new record high, and the official unemployment rates in both Greece and Spain are now much higher than the peak unemployment rate in the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The economic situation in Europe is far worse than it was a year ago, and it is going to continue to get worse as austerity continues to take a huge toll on the economies of the eurozone. It would be hard to understate how bad things have gotten – particularly in southern Europe. The truth is that most of southern Europe is experiencing a full-blown economic depression right now. Sadly, most Americans are paying very little attention to what is going on across the Atlantic. But they should be watching, because this is what happens when nations accumulate too much debt. The United States has the biggest debt burden of all, and eventually what is happening over in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece is going to happen over here as well.

The following are 20 facts about the collapse of Europe that everyone should know…

#110 Months: Manufacturing activity in both France and Germany has contracted for 10 months in a row.

#211.8 Percent: The unemployment rate in the eurozone has now risen to 11.8 percent – a brand new all-time high.

#317 Months: In November, Italy experienced the sharpest decline in retail sales that it had experienced in 17 months.

#420 Months: Manufacturing activity in Spain has contracted for 20 months in a row.

#520 Percent: It is estimated that bad loans now make up approximately 20 percent of all domestic loans in the Greek banking system at this point.

#622 Percent: A whopping 22 percent of the entire population of Ireland lives in jobless households.

#726 Percent: The unemployment rate in Greece is now 26 percent. A year ago it was only 18.9 percent.

#826.6 Percent: The unemployment rate in Spain has risen to an astounding 26.6 percent.

#927.0 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Cyprus. Back in 2008, this number was well below 10 percent.

#1028 Percent: Sales of French-made vehicles in November were down 28 percent compared to a year earlier.

#1136 Percent: Today, the poverty rate in Greece is 36 percent. Back in 2009 it was only about 20 percent.

#1237.1 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Italy – a brand new all-time high.

#1344 Percent: An astounding 44 percent of the entire population of Bulgaria is facing “severe material deprivation”.

#1456.5 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Spain – a brand new all-time high.

#1557.6 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Greece – a brand new all-time high.

#1660 Percent: Citigroup is projecting that there is a 60 percent probability that Greece will leave the eurozone within the next 12 to 18 months.

#1770 Percent: It has been reported that some homes in Spain are being sold at a 70% discount from where they were at during the peak of the housing bubble back in 2006. At this point there are approximately 2 million unsold homes in Spain.

#191997: According to the Committee of French Automobile Producers, 2012 was the worst year for the French automobile industry since 1997.

#202 Million: Back in 2005, the French auto industry produced about 3.5 million vehicles. In 2012, that number dropped to about 2 million vehicles.

One thing that these shocking numbers cannot convey is the tremendous amount of pain that many average Europeans are living through on a daily basis at this point. To get a peek into what life is like in Greece these days, check out this short excerpt from a recent Bloomberg article…

Anastasia Karagaitanaki, 57, is a former model and cafe owner in Thessaloniki, Greece. After losing her business to the financial crisis, she now sleeps on a daybed next to the refrigerator in her mother’s kitchen and depends on charity for food and insulin for her diabetes.

“I feel like my life has slipped through my hands,” said Karagaitanaki, whose brother also shares the one-bedroom apartment. “I feel like I’m dead.”

For thousands of Greeks like Karagaitanaki, the fabric of middle-class life is unraveling. Teachers, salaries slashed by a third, are stealing electricity. Families in once-stable neighborhoods are afraid to leave their homes because of rising street crime.

All over Europe, people that have lost all hope are actually setting themselves on fire in a desperate attempt to draw attention. Millions of formerly middle class Europeans have lost everything and are becoming increasingly desperate. Suicide and crime are skyrocketing all over southern Europe and massive street riots are erupting on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. Things are going to get even worse for Europe.

Meanwhile, those of us living in the United States smugly look down our noses at Europe because we are still living in a false bubble of debt-fueled prosperity.

But eventually we will feel the sting of austerity as well. The recent fiscal cliff deal was an indication of that. Taxes are going up and government spending is at least going to slow down. It won’t be too long before the effects of that are felt in the economy.

And of course the reality of the situation is that the U.S. economy really did not perform very well at all during 2012 when you take a look at the numbers. The cold, hard truth is that the U.S. economy has been declining for a very long time, and there are a whole bunch of reasons to expect that our decline will accelerate even further in 2013.

So if you are an American, don’t laugh at what is happening over in Europe at the moment. We are headed down the exact same path that they have gone, and we are going to experience the same kind of suffering that they are going through right now.

Use these last few “bubble months” to prepare for what is ahead. At some point this “hope bubble” will disappear and then the time for preparation will be over.

Act like a prepper and stock up with food, emergency equipment, etc. You can’t do anything because the big corporations, the banks, and the politicians are in control. By the time they’re done stealing everything, we’ll be a banana republic on the verge of revolution.

They can’t control everything. The only power they have is the power that consumers give them. Don’t buy their crappy food and products. Most items bought from stores can be homemade or bough from small businesses. That is how you resist, though not everyone is able to due to life circumstances. You do what you can though.

Ralfine

Shoot the paperboy for trespassing.

Blackhawk

At this point I would move in a location with low density population, try to become as less dependable on the money as possible, create or integrate in a local community in which awareness of the situation is aroused, start to connect and share with your neighbours, grow and maintain a garden, cut down on the dependency on fossil fuels, disconnect from the grid ( go on solar, wind power) and most of all get used to live on “bare necessities”.

2Gary2

How the Conservative Movement Cons Its Naive Followers Out of Their Cash

The
most prominent conservative organizations in the nation are primarily
dedicated to separating conservatives from their money.

Oh the stupid low info conservative fools. At least they are entertaining.

Mark

Where are the conservatives being taken Gary. When you throw a bomb, back it up with a fact that is real to a conservative. Don’t state some low info lib stuff.

Believe me, there are fools from both sides, conservative and liberal.

http://www.facebook.com/joe.kleinkamp Joe Kleinkamp

Why does everyone let this Gary2 moron pull their chains? All he’s looking for is attention and some indication he’s gotten under your skin. Treat him as you would an annoying child who’s showing off. By ignoring him you will take away his incentive to continue his nonsense. A year or so ago, maybe as a result of some counseling and medication, he was on a campaign to be more respectful in his posts. But liberalism is a hard disease to cure.

Mark

You are right Joe, I have tried to have a real conversation with Gary2 and another one is Ralfine. It seems that they are both missing something between the ears. They just do not seem to know how the world works. They get nasty or have these utopian ideas that will never work. Gary2 just throws up hate towards the 99% on this blog. We should not give them the time of day. They both need to go back on their medication and quit drinking the lefts Kool-aid each morning.

2Gary2

you know I tried to be respectful but almost daily there are examples of republican cruelty the only way to talk about it is to say it like it is, which is what I do. I appreciate your name calling as that is par for the course for low information conservatives when they can not grasp complex ideas. I have been really seeing the cognitive dissonance of conservatives these last couple of years. Amazing. Its no wonder they seem to be mentally ill.

Hambone

European countries are also losing their identities. France, once so nationalistic, has had its cultural makeup change dramatically in a very short period of time.

There is a large immigration of people from the middle east, families that have lots of kids. Meanwhile, France (and Russia… and the rest of Europe really) has become very secular, anti-God, anti-marriage and anti-big family. Were it not for the immigration and the rapid procreation of the immigrants, many of these countries would be in population decline. As it is, they’re holding steady, but the percentages are changing — and fast.

Normally, this shouldn’t be a huge issue, but with austerity comes conflict, and I think this might be fanning the flames.

If we don’t wise up… this is the US in 10 years.

Greydove

You obviously know very little about Russia. There has been a lot of lies by the US mainstream media about Russia and especially Putin. Christian Orthodoxy (The biggest denomination of Russia)is about the closest you will get to the original church in the time of the Jesus Christ and the deciples. Under Putin large numbers of churches are being built and opened. In Russia gay marriage doesn’t exist and any form of public gay event is immediately shut down by police. The mainstream media would live for everyone to believe Putin is evil and Russia is godless but when I look at the facts, it is America who appears to be godless, materialistic and moral lacking country in the world.

Greydove

Also, it is fact and on record that the Jews are the proprietors of multiculturalism and have stated on video that there goal is to destroy each country’s individuality and nationality. France, England and Germany are easy examples of taditional Christian heritage being wiped out by an influx of 3rd world aliens and Muslims. Ever ride the train in Britain? If you are white you will be the minority. This is in no way “racist” or whatever buzz words the mainstream media and twisted society tries to pin on us to attack us for simply stating facts. Why is it one side can hate white Christians and publicy announce plans of destroying Europe via multiculturalism and that’s ok but if I dare restate probable facts this post probably won’t be approved?

HerrinSchadenfreude

I’d say it probably has “something” to do with the fact that white Christians spent a couple of thousand years killing and/or enslaving everything not white and Christian that they came across. Amazing as it may seem, some people snap their fingers just as instructed and yet, that stuff never just vanishes like it never happened. Perhaps if they clicked their heels at the same time as you seem to have…

Here’s the thing. White Christians? The ones so dismayed by how they are being treated? Haven’t shown that they’ve gained an ounce of perspective on true equality. They don’t want to go along and get along. They still want to act like they’re doing everyone a favor by showing up. The recent US election results show beyond a shadow of a doubt that such half-assed attempts at humility are simply not good enough anymore, and being white and Christian no longer carries with it the power to stave off irrelevance by default.

Now, armed with this knowledge, what do you intend to do differently tomorrow morning to change minds?

Greydove

You are utterly stupid. Do you not know how many Christians were murdered by the Bolsheviks????? Way more then that fake number of 6 million jews which officially has been lowered by research but you won’t hear about it. Now go back to your history channel fake history, lemming.

Greydove

Oh and you obviously sound like you hate white European Christians. Scum.

Ralfine

White Christians.

killed the Azteks, the indigenous peoples of North and South America;

started the 100 year war in europe, the inquisition, burning of children as witches and scorcerers, the 30 year war, the spanish-american war, the german-french war, world war 1, world war 2, and numerous others.

What reason could there possibly be to hate White Christians?

Ralfine

You know that Jesus was a jew?

You realise that Jesus was born in the Middle East?

If Jesus would ride the subway, would you offer him your seat?

Gay Veteran

gee, why am I not surprised you’re anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim

Hambone

Russia has a staggering abortion to live birth ratio. Even in recent times, abortion is a means of birth control for many women.

Also, I’ve heard just about every Christian religion, with the exception of LDS, claim they are the closest to the original church. I mean no disrespect, and I am not challenging your claim, but you can’t all be right.

I am also not challenging the devotion of the faithful within the country, but the country as a whole cannot claim to be a God-centric country when aborting children is a means of family planning.

Greydove

And just what exactly do you think happens in America? Your tax dollars go for abortions and guess what? Everyone goes along with it.

We are not better than any other country in most ways we are worse. We go to other countries and murder children with drones.

Hambone

I never claimed the US to be a God-centric country. Quite the opposite. I am saying we are in the crapper and swirling downward.

Gay Veteran

“any form of public gay event is immediately shut down by police”
like a good little police state

jakartaman

Try 10 months – It is coming fast – the derivative implosion is around the corner – get ready NOW!

SmallerGovNow

forget 10 years, we’re there soon…

Mondobeyondo

2015. Just throwing it out there, my predictions aren’t even as good as those of Nostradamus. My crystal ball is broken, and I can’t afford another one.

http://www.facebook.com/rene.girrard Rene Girrard

Europe has been a spiritual wasteland for well over 25 years. There isn’t anything new about that I don’t think.

Mark

It is kind of strange about the economy. A lot of it is just in our minds. During a depression the same buildings are there, the same farm land and other natural resources have not gone away. The same roads are there. We have the same fiat money that the Fed can print. That fiat money really just has value in our minds. The way we treat the value of fiat money is nuts. We could just as well pick up stones from the ground and it would be the same, except that you or I could pick up a stone and use it , where as with the Fed they give their stones to the banksters and they loan us the stones if we pay them interest. What a scam. I suppose if we had an army we could take control of the stones and only round ones could have value. LOL

Aegil

Indeed money is just an object of the mind. It is the same nature as how we grade a school examination question if answered correctly, and the same as how much we score in an arcade game. So just like how teachers grade school examination questions, we grade the value of objects using money.

Money measures the value of objects. When the gold standard existed, compare the value of any object (be it food, drink or tools) to the value of gold. Just like how we measure the distance of 2 places/points with a ruler.

So how do we know the value of something? When it looks, smells, and feels good and it keeps us satisfied or how precious it is (supply and demand). So value is ultimately rooted in our thinking: how our five senses are stimulated, our worldview and how precious objects are.

Comparing always takes place between 2 objects, which is just like measuring the distance between two places. So measuring distance is comparing in itself. We use mainly our sense of sight (along with a ruler to help) to determine the distance between two places.

The number systems was born because due to comparing. We use our ten fingers to count, so it may have given birth to the decimal number system we use every day.

Counting makes more sense and is more precise than always saying: “It is greater than this” or “This is better than that”, this is why we use the 5- or 10-star rating system we find in product reviews. Counting helps us visualize the size of things. Those things can be abstract like the value of objects.

Without number systems, mathematics will not exist. So mathematics is also born from our ability to compare.

So money is just an object of the mind because the human mind simply assigns value to the resources we gather from this planet. Mother Nature gives resources freely to us. Most of the time we gather at the expense of the natural balance. If we don’t are about the balance of this planet, we are stealing from Nature already.

Due to how we gather resources, the title of one of Jason Mraz’s albums is accurate to our environmental situation: We Sing, We Dance, We Steal things.

Mark

Yes we do try to assign a value to money, but for fiat money to have a value , you have to trust those that control the money. Do you trust the controlers? A gold backed system limits the abuse that the controlers can do to damage that trust.

MeMadMax

You missed the point. Even gold has value assigned to it by a controller….

Aegil

Yes. I admire how the preppers are practicing self sufficiency, it makes them more immune to controllers.

http://karmaeconomics.blogspot.com/ lavista4u

I’m from a third world country and have lived in worst conditions. Its all in the mind guys, all you need to do is “come together” as a one force.
These are just economic numbers created on top of false economic conditions by the Banks.

African tribes do not burn themselves and commit suicides when they live in open forest, then why should we do so…Be like a tribe now, come together under one roof….

hunt together, live together

Be united. Help each other out. Most Importantly, have TRUST in your fellow human being.

Really? People who experienced hardship in socialism are better prepared to survive the next hardship.

What does capitalism have to offer? Take out your gun and shoot the only doctor in the neighborhood for his iPAD, then delete all his books and notes and install angry birds. LOL

webgrrl123

That’s not capitalism, that’s thuggery.

Ralfine

what’s the difference?

saintmess

capitalism is thuggerry

Ace006

Don’t be ridiculous.

http://profile.yahoo.com/XFAEMN7TP3UPWEAV7KPNZQ33LM Paul

Socialism is why these problems are coming. I am amazed that so many have not figured this out yet. Welfare states survive until they run out of other people’s money. We already ran out, but don’t know it yet. We haven’t had free markets in decades. That’s the real problem.

Shogun_01

Socialism is not the problem – Canada, and many northern socialist countries are doing just fine. So don’t throw it around like its a pejorative. The problem is the millions of families with single mothers, low incomes, or no incomes, that require already huge amounts of money to live, to implement full socialism would be a disaster, thanks to the crony capitalistic economy.

Ralfine

The problem isn’t welfare. The problem is that businesses do not pay their employees enough money to survive.

This results in not enough money in the market to buy goods and services, and companies created the consumer credit so they can pretend they sold something.

And, of course, using debts not for investment but consumption is plain wrong. The largest consumption item being ammo and other defense items.

There can be ROI but there is no return on ammo.You blow it up and then the money is gone.

MindMogul

The problem is government bailouts and corporate greed. A cyclical effect where no one is responsible. This”democratic” style of leadership serves no one and accomplishes nothing. We have faded from our original Republic style of leadership. Read Capitalism by Ayn Rand to gain a deeper understanding of Capitalism and how it was created to truly serve mankind so that we may be creators of our lives to benefit society instead of relying on handouts and the welfare mentality that now permeates our economy and the world. Capitalism in its most simple and basic form is a natural way of doing business as man seeks to express himself through his work, thereby creating value.

Mondobeyondo

I wouldn’t call it socialism, or capitalism for that matter. Not the way capitalism was in years past, anyway. What we have in this country now is a corporate plutocracy.

Alasha

“.Be like a tribe now, come together under one roof.hunt together, live together”

God love u, lavista4u – that i sooooooooooo native. IMHO.

Humans are creatures of habit and we Americans do not have the habit of living as a tribe. Ya think! lol.

One day of no power from Hurricane Sandy and I was off to a hotel i tried 2 ruff and that lasted 15 mins with the loneliness, cold and dark. 20 mins later i was in a hotel, hot bath soup and checking out the story conditions as reported on by the news. sigh…

Pedro

Be careful, is not and ilusion for the families that are living in the street. yeah, good be united, but…remember you CANNOT live whatever you want in Spain, unless you want to fight with the police. You cannot chop wood, unless you have a permit…you cannot hunt, unless you have a permit, so it’s not so easy to this point. you have to be outlaw to do what you said….and most of people are sheep here. So, they’ll wait to the worst to come together. The TV and media has done their job to domesticate people in EU, and US this last 60 years.

MeMadMax

Laws were meant to be broken…
I would hunt, chop wood, etc anyways… gov’ment can kiss my you know what lol.

jakartaman

lavista4u,
You are absolutely correct – Its all relative.
Unfortunately, not all of humanity will be as reasonable as you. In fact history overwhelmingly tells us the humans will treat others in very inhuman ways. Like minded folks will need to band together in small communities that can be self sufficient – Good luck friend! PS Trust God too!

eugenio morales

yes, but african tribes and third world country’s populace DIE by the millions from starvation, dysentary, cholera and multitudes of other diseases that wealthier nations with higher living standards do not.
I understand your excellent fortitude and perseverance–very commendable. Please however, do not laud the standards of living of third world hellholes as something we should toughen up and get used to.
Despair and suicide are very bad–but so is accepting serfdom and poverty in perpetual squalor.

felkk

All he’s saying is if tribes can learn to survive and thrive on the land, how stupid of you to commit suicide because you lost a fancy job in the city.

http://www.facebook.com/stevie.markovich Stevie Markovich

Thank you for these wise words, and God bless you all the time…

Mondobeyondo

If you watch or listen to mainstream U.S. media, you’ve heard little or nothing about the economic situation in Greece, or Italy, for the last month or two Several months ago, the news was filled with riots in Greece, anger in Italy, unrest in England, etc These days, you’d just assume that these countries are suddenly financially healthy, and that everyone living in Europe is doing just fine. Everything’s fine, right? Not so. Not the case at all.

P.S. The U.S. is in the worst situation of all, and our people are NOT ready for what’s coming. Just keep watching your favorite sitcom on TV. All is well….

SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE

YOU SOUND LIKE JESUS MONDO As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Mondobeyondo

I wouldn’t go quite THAT far…

Herbert

No problem. Here in Germany we don’t hear much as well. Life is good and the illusion will go on forever

RICHARD

thank you Herbert for keeping us up dated here in the U.S.A.it always helps for people from different counties than ours to tell us how it is going in there country.

Mondobeyondo

It’s all smoke and mirrors. Don’t know what they’re smoking, but it’s sure making the mirrors look weird.

markthetruth

The issue is world of technology growth is about convenience and speed. We are at the point of where progress is creating a negative effect on the human race to the reality that computer and robot’s are destroying everything , the land,rivers,oceans and the air and space. And the blue color middle class humans are losing there importance. We are creating things are shrinking the world to the point Hawaii will be around the corner and no more of a thrill. We turned all natural wonders into a money polluting tourist traps. Hikers climb the once invincible mountains like a recreation trip. on and on.

We need shelter,family,water,food and our health.
The preppers have it right.

Money is evil……………

the end.

Mondobeyondo

Nah. It’s not money itself that’s evil. Money used in a proper way, can help you help people less fortunate. It can buy you something to eat, and so forth. It’s the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil.

Traffix

Is it just me, or are you finally hearing a lot of warnings from mainstream sources about national debt and crime? The doom is so thick, its like it’s already here.

Ralfine

Your filter is switched off.

The news was there all the time, you just filtered the info differently.

In fact, the news about crime is there for decades. They even made a lot of Hollywood movies about crime in the US.

It is easier to buy guns and get violent than playing frisbee on a nude beach.

SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE

ITS GETTING HOT IN HERE!!!2012: warmest and 2nd most extreme year in U.S. history
By Dr. Jeff Masters

Published: 9:01 PM GMT on January 08, 2013
The contiguous U.S. smashed its record for hottest year on record in 2012, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The annual U.S. average temperature was 3.3°F above the 20th century average, and was an astonishing 1.0°F above the previous record, set in 1998. It is extremely rare for an area the size of the U.S. to break an annual average temperature record by such a large margin. Nineteen states, stretching from Utah to Massachusetts, had annual temperatures which were record warm. An additional 26 states had a top-ten warmest year. Only Georgia (11th warmest year), Oregon (12th warmest), and Washington (30th warmest) had annual temperatures that were not among the ten warmest in their respective period of records. As wunderground’s weather historian Christopher C. Burt reported, of the approximately 5,500 U.S. stations in the NCDC database, 362 recorded their all-time highest temperature during 2012, and none recorded an all-time coldest temperature. This was the most since the infamous Dust Bowl summer of 1936. Approximately 7% of the contiguous U.S. experienced an all-time hottest day during 2012, and every state in the contiguous U.S. except Washington had at least one location experience its warmest year on record. One notable warmest year record occurred in Central Park, in New York City, which has a period of record dating back 136 years.

The 2012 weather was also very dry, and the year ranked as the 15th driest year on record for the contiguous U.S. Wyoming and Nebraska had their driest year on record, and eight other states had top-ten driest years. The area of the contiguous U.S. experiencing moderate-to-exceptional drought peaked at 61.8% during July. This was the largest monthly drought footprint since the Dust Bowl year of 1939.

Figure 1. Historical temperature ranking for U.S. states in 2012. Nineteen states had their warmest year on record, and an additional 26 were top-ten warm. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

Figure 2. Temperatures for the contiguous U.S. in 2012, compared to the previous record warmest and coldest years in U.S. history. The annual U.S. average temperature was 3.3°F above the 20th century average, and was an astonishing 1.0°F above the previous record, set in 1998. It is extremely rare for an area the size of the U.S. to break an annual average temperature record by such a large margin. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.

Second most extreme year on record
The year 2012 was the second most extreme on record in the contiguous U.S., according to NOAA’s U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI), which tracks the percentage area of the contiguous U.S. experiencing top-10% and bottom-10% extremes in temperature, precipitation, and drought, plus winds from landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes. The CEI was 39% in 2012, approximately double the average of 20%. The only year that was more extreme since CEI record keeping began in 1910 was 1998–the United States’ previous warmest year on record. Since Hurricane Sandy was not considered a hurricane when it came ashore, that storm did not contribute to the 2012 CEI. If one plots up the CEI without using the tropical storm and hurricane indicator, 2012 is the most extreme year on record, beating out 1998, 46% to 42%. During 2012, a record 87% of the contiguous U.S. had maximum temperatures that were in the warmest 10% historically, crushing the previous record of 62% set in 1934; 74% of the U.S. of the U.S. had warm minimum temperatures in the top 10% in 2012 (2nd highest on record.) The percentage area of the U.S. experiencing top-10% drought conditions was 34%, which was the 4th greatest since 1910. Only droughts in the Dust Bowl year of 1934, and during 1954 and 1956, were more extreme, averaged over the entire year. Heavy 1-day downpours were near average in 2012, though, with 9% of nation experiencing a top-10% extreme, compared to the average of 10%.

Figure 3. NOAA’s U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) pegged 2012 as the second most extreme year on record, with 39% of the contiguous U.S. experiencing top-10% extreme weather. This is approximately double the average of 20% (heavy black line.)

Jeff Masters

007

Blah blah blah and it’s the coldest winter on record for Alaska.

Ralfine

Nice that you mention Alaska.
Alaska was bought from the Russian Czar.

If you need some money just return Alaska for some Russian gas and oil. Should be easier than getting oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Mark

We could use the oil and gas that has been made off limits in Alaska. For that matter we could use the oil and gas that is on other federal land that Obama keeps off limits. We have plenty of resources in the USA if we were smart enough to use them. Instead we buy the resources from people that use the profits to wage war on us.

Ralfine

Unfortunately you are not smart enough to use your resources without making a complete mess of your country.

Mark

How can you make a statement about the condition of the use of our resources all the way from London. The damage done in the US is small comapred to most other countries when we remove our resources from the earth. The US is not a wasteland except in some of our cities. That is what drugs and a lack of moral values will do to a a city. Sure, we have some places
that were damaged in the past, but that happened all over the world. England at one time was covered with forests and there is not much left standing today.
When we log in Oregon today, you have a very short period of time to replant trees again. You like the system in China as you have said in the past and they have made a real mess of their country.

Ralfine

Ever heard of mountaintop removal mining? Exxon Valdez? Gulf of Mexico?
Yes the trees in England have bveen used to build Nelson’ fleet.

Ralfine

All that heat does not come from human activity, it is coming from all the hot air the politicians are issuing. And we all know that politicians do not work.

webgrrl123

The whole solar system is warming, how is that due to human activity? Global warming comes only from the SUN.

Ralfine

yeah, whatever. my house is insulated.

Alasha

“i feel like I am dead”

Jeepers!! i feel like i am dead and no way under any kind of circumstances listed. Heaven Help Us!

MeMadMax

The euro… a socialist monetary program that is barely 14 years old or so and yet is in big trouble… Sounds like those shiny new cars/planes/gadgets/etc that we got that either catch fire or blow up in our face, for example, and just simply don’t last that long… Unlike the ol’ standby that just keeps chugging along(think Boeing 747), leave it alone and she will run forever… Guess it’s not hip for kids these days… Anyways, case in point: If it’s not broken, don’t fix it till it is… The Europeans had a system that worked fine before the euro, and now they have a dead system that will blow up in their face before they can get rid of it…. Same with the US, we were doing fine till liberals and their knee-jerk policies came along, now we are blowing up as well…

Ralfine

Your socialist phobia is really funny. When bad mouthing something you just say “That is socialist”.

LOL

To explain the Euro in terms you understand:
The Euro is a merger. The aim is efficiency and to reduce losses incurred throught exchange rates.

It is the same reason why you use the same US Dollar in Texas, California and Baltimore.

Europe is actually the United States of Europe.

Several states with their own government united under a federal government and parliament and currency. Free movement of goods and people from the Bosporus to the Arctic Circle. From the Black Sea to the Atlantic. From the Baltic Sea to Gibraltar.

Europe and the Euro are initiated by business interests. Therefore corporations, especially German corporations profit most from the Euro.

And that is also the reason, why Germany is the last country to leave the Euro.

Mark

The corporations wants efficiency and the politician wants control. When the politician and the corporations get too cozy together we end up with socialist fascist police state.

Ralfine

yeah, you could use a whipped cream diet, too.

MeMadMax

Socialist phobia…
Wow, you suck at trolling, go back to huffpoop where there are more people there to pretend to pat you on the back and help stroke ur ego more….

Ralfine

Well, you are only partly right. While you are one of the greatest trolls I ever encountered, I wasn’t intending to troll.

MeMadMax

“The goal of socialism is communism”
Vladimir Lenin

Ralfine

Yes,
After the capitalism developed into its highest state worldwide, it will evolve into communism out of economic necessity.
Marx/Engels

Lenin didn’t want to wait that long and looked for a shortcut. Shortcuts never work. they are also more expensive.

MeMadMax

Don’t try to change the subject, noob…

chilller

People would be much happier, regardless of their personal situation, if only the media would shut up and quit pummeling everyone with their whipsaw, brainwashing babble of “how good everything is – how bad everything is”. The really depressing thing is the ones responsible for all of this criminal activity are publicly given get out of jail free cards, almost thumbing their noses at the rest of us.

JustanOguy

Tough to say… I lived in Europe and have plenty of friends there. The big difference between Europeans and Americans is that Europeans don’t carry as much debt per person and they don’t personally invest in the Ponzi scheme pension funds that Americans do.

Their Governments can stop paying and go BK… and it’s the Banksters that are really going to be hurting.

Too bad… so sad.

El Pollo de Oro

JustanOguy: Good point about Europeans and personal debt. I’ve done a lot of traveling in Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece, France, UK, Ireland, Portugal) and have plenty of friends over there, and many Europeans don’t have credit cards and don’t want them. For example, there’s no such thing as a “FICO score” in the Netherlands, and if you want to buy a house in Amsterdam or Rotterdam, a lack of credit cards isn’t going to be the kiss of death.

Ralfine

Can second that. I got a loan to bring my house well into the 21st century. Floors heat and sound insulated, triple paned windows and terrace doors, electric rolling metal shutters, underfloor heating, heatpump, insulated walls and roof, solar collector to support the heating system, etc.
But my savings cover that loan. The interest on my savings was larger than what i have to pay for the loan. Now it’s about the same.
running costs for heating and hot water: EUR 2.50 per squaremeter and year.

jakartaman

Don’t let the Government take your only means of protection – your guns.
We will need to be prepared to survive so we can rebuild America. We will need to eradicate all socialist/liberals (they will be hard to find after the crash) union whores, hollywood airheads – you get the picture. The ferderal government will need to be cut by 3/4ths and power given back to the states. Buy ammo, food silver store water and read your bible.

webgrrl123

A liberal who has been mugged often turns conservative, don’t be looking too hard, they probably will all turn conservative before it’s all over anyway.

Hambone

More often, they turn selectively conservative, on a single issue that impacts them. I have numerous examples.

One quick one — liberal friends, believe in wealth distribution, big time. Then, their daughter goes to med school, becomes a doctor, marries another doctor. Guess what? They now believe in wealth distribution, but not from Doctors. Docs went to school, EARN their money and work hard. Everyone else who is rich is a greedy, evil scumbag.

Selective, convenient conservativism. If they are mugged, they may suddenly support the second amendment but won’t take down their Al Gore shrine.

It all stems from the absense of core values.

Mark

Good comment, many from the left and the right do not have core values. The first one is to be honest with yourself. We do change from our life experiances. I thought that socialism was a good thing when I was 16 in the 1960’s. I had worked since the summer of the 6th grade, but it seemed to me that my labor was worth the same as an adult and I shoud be paid the same. I had drank the kool-aid of the 60’s. I supported the democrat ticket in 1972.and 1976. Well, Jimmy Carter and growing up changed the way I saw the world. I found that the utopian systems do not work in real life as people are all different. We strive towards different paths and it does take time to develop our core values. I decided to use the Constitution as my political core values. For my personal life, the Bible as my core values. I have found true joy in life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

MeMadMax

The survivors will, because they were not true liberals in the first place. The hardcore liberals will not last for more than a month or two…

Ralfine

really? liberty is freedom, isn’t it? and freedom comes with independence. preppers aim to be independent, while those who depend on their gun under the pillow are still imprisoned.

Gay Veteran

stereotype much?

K

How can you believe in the Risen Christ? And want to eradicate large groups of your fellow humans. Beware, your anger turns you towards madness.

rollsthepaul

The financial/economic collapse will be softened, by the loss of global electronic communications, loss of electrical power, severe coastal water inundation, and destruction of most world buildings and structures. Since the game is not working and can’t be fixed, universe will smash it and then start a new game, conducted by those that can make a much better world work. Everyone on the planet will “get it” by June 1 2013.

Scotum

Louis Farrakhan should br our President.
He is my hero.

Mondobeyondo

Um.. okay, I guess. *whew!!*

http://obbop.wordpress.com/ obbop

Well, Louis should be really happy when those alien spacecraft arrive to assist all the Black folks and make all as it should be.

At least those cult members dress nice and seem to be well-behaved in public.

If only more folks of all types would do the same.

Hey.. Occupy Movement.. take a hint and get a clue… use better tactics and receive much more popular support!!!!

Gay Veteran

as opposed to the Tea Party old farts who protested and then got on their Medicare provided scooters to go home

Syrin

Oh the irony from the most fact challenged poster on the entire internet. I’m glad to see you site all those Soros funded web sites detailing those amazing facts.

Now care to address the issue at hand? You know, those listed above showing us that LIBERALISM has DECIMATED AN ENTIRE CONTINENT YOU MORON !

rollsthepaul

By The Numbers: 20 Facts About The Collapse Of Europe That Everyone Should Know

By Michael, on January 8th, 2013

The economic implosion of Europe is accelerating. Even while the mainstream media continues to proclaim that the financial crisis in Europe has been “averted”, the economic statistics that are coming out of Europe just continue to get worse. Manufacturing activity in Europe has been contracting month after month, the unemployment rate in the eurozone has hit yet another brand new record high, and the official unemployment rates in both Greece and Spain are now much higher than the peak unemployment rate in the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The economic situation in Europe is far worse than it was a year ago, and it is going to continue to get worse as austerity continues to take a huge toll on the economies of the eurozone. It would be hard to understate how bad things have gotten – particularly in southern Europe. The truth is that most of southern Europe is experiencing a full-blown economic depression right now. Sadly, most Americans are paying very little attention to what is going on across the Atlantic. But they should be watching, because this is what happens when nations accumulate too much debt. The United States has the biggest debt burden of all, and eventually what is happening over in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece is going to happen over here as well.

The following are 20 facts about the collapse of Europe that everyone should know…

#1 10 Months: Manufacturing activity in both France and Germany has contracted for 10 months in a row.

#2 11.8 Percent: The unemployment rate in the eurozone has now risen to 11.8 percent – a brand new all-time high.

#3 17 Months: In November, Italy experienced the sharpest decline in retail sales that it had experienced in 17 months.

#4 20 Months: Manufacturing activity in Spain has contracted for 20 months in a row.

#5 20 Percent: It is estimated that bad loans now make up approximately 20 percent of all domestic loans in the Greek banking system at this point.

#6 22 Percent: A whopping 22 percent of the entire population of Ireland lives in jobless households.

#7 26 Percent: The unemployment rate in Greece is now 26 percent. A year ago it was only 18.9 percent.

#8 26.6 Percent: The unemployment rate in Spain has risen to an astounding 26.6 percent.

#9 27.0 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Cyprus. Back in 2008, this number was well below 10 percent.

#10 28 Percent: Sales of French-made vehicles in November were down 28 percent compared to a year earlier.

#11 36 Percent: Today, the poverty rate in Greece is 36 percent. Back in 2009 it was only about 20 percent.

#12 37.1 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Italy – a brand new all-time high.

#13 44 Percent: An astounding 44 percent of the entire population of Bulgaria is facing “severe material deprivation”.

#14 56.5 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Spain – a brand new all-time high.

#15 57.6 Percent: The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 in Greece – a brand new all-time high.

#16 60 Percent: Citigroup is projecting that there is a 60 percent probability that Greece will leave the eurozone within the next 12 to 18 months.

#17 70 Percent: It has been reported that some homes in Spain are being sold at a 70% discount from where they were at during the peak of the housing bubble back in 2006. At this point there are approximately 2 million unsold homes in Spain.

#19 1997: According to the Committee of French Automobile Producers, 2012 was the worst year for the French automobile industry since 1997.

#20 2 Million: Back in 2005, the French auto industry produced about 3.5 million vehicles. In 2012, that number dropped to about 2 million vehicles.

One thing that these shocking numbers cannot convey is the tremendous amount of pain that many average Europeans are living through on a daily basis at this point. To get a peek into what life is like in Greece these days, check out this short excerpt from a recent Bloomberg article…

Anastasia Karagaitanaki, 57, is a former model and cafe owner in Thessaloniki, Greece. After losing her business to the financial crisis, she now sleeps on a daybed next to the refrigerator in her mother’s kitchen and depends on charity for food and insulin for her diabetes.

“I feel like my life has slipped through my hands,” said Karagaitanaki, whose brother also shares the one-bedroom apartment. “I feel like I’m dead.”

For thousands of Greeks like Karagaitanaki, the fabric of middle-class life is unraveling. Teachers, salaries slashed by a third, are stealing electricity. Families in once-stable neighborhoods are afraid to leave their homes because of rising street crime.

All over Europe, people that have lost all hope are actually setting themselves on fire in a desperate attempt to draw attention. Millions of formerly middle class Europeans have lost everything and are becoming increasingly desperate. Suicide and crime are skyrocketing all over southern Europe and massive street riots are erupting on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. Things are going to get even worse for Europe.

Meanwhile, those of us living in the United States smugly look down our noses at Europe because we are still living in a false bubble of debt-fueled prosperity.

But eventually we will feel the sting of austerity as well. The recent fiscal cliff deal was an indication of that. Taxes are going up and government spending is at least going to slow down. It won’t be too long before the effects of that are felt in the economy.

And of course the reality of the situation is that the U.S. economy really did not perform very well at all during 2012 when you take a look at the numbers. The cold, hard truth is that the U.S. economy has been declining for a very long time, and there are a whole bunch of reasons to expect that our decline will accelerate even further in 2013.

So if you are an American, don’t laugh at what is happening over in Europe at the moment. We are headed down the exact same path that they have gone, and we are going to experience the same kind of suffering that they are going through right now.

Use these last few “bubble months” to prepare for what is ahead. At some point this “hope bubble” will disappear and then the time for preparation will be over.

Black Power

Louis Farrakhan is the answer. TRhis country would be better off if all the whites would go back to Europe. And let the Reverend Louis Farrakhan be our leader.

http://www.facebook.com/upchuck.liberals UpChuck Liberals

How about you go back to Africa and STFU if you really want to play that game. Besides if the working Whites leave who are you going to steal from? Oh wait the same people you steal from now, your Brothers and Sisters.

Cinderella Man

Humans are the only species on the planet dumb enough to pay to live here.

SmallerGovNow

Test

http://obbop.wordpress.com/ obbop

What’s the problem? The elites and their hired lackeys of every country in the world will be fine.

No wanting for food, shelter, medical care, etc.

It is merely the despised scum commoners who suffer and their existence in all societies is to serve the ruling masters.

Let me know when it is the elites and their cohorts, minions and lackeys suffering… THAT would be news!!!

Philip Gossett

The media continues to brainwash the average American. Some of us are not swallowing the BS they are preaching. Be smart and plan ahead.

energizedmortal

Mental revolutions will turn into physical revolutions. Its just the 6000 nukes that people in power rather use before they lose control. “no man no problem”- Stalin

Aegil

And revolutions starts with one person or group with similar thinking. If the numbers exceed the controllers, something wonderful happens.

So the fakestream media were very good in keeping people asleep.

John Blythe

What is shocking about the European Union is that it is beginning to function not only like a dictatorship or a new USSR if you will, but trying to enforce its will on the rest of Europe; a ‘united’ Europe and trying to tear down sovereignty and democracy. These countries in Europe are nothing like the United States… the U.S. has been around for only 236 years. Countries like Germany, France, England, Romania, etc. have been around for thousands of years and are rooted into their past and culture. If you try to take people out of their culture that they’ve known forever and try to impose a failed belief system like the ‘European Union’ onto them, then all you are going to be left with is nationalism and violence and we will see a repeat of what we saw in Yugoslavia in the 1990’s, which by the way, was a country in Europe that wanted to end ethnic tension, but the country only descended into civil war because of its crumbling economic conditions in the late 1980’s and suffered from hyperinflation. We’re going to see something similar in Europe I’m afraid, unless the people of these countries finally say “no more European Union!”

http://profile.yahoo.com/II6P3D3ECY2TPSPQP235UGLXJM fiasco

100% capitalism.

Lisa67

Any body have any idea about how many months we have to get prepared? Just an estimate would be helpful.

phatxN8d4god

It goes all the way back to Solemon’s temple.
If you think that’s bad U.N. has been trying for years to disban or nations arms, not military, but actual freedom to bare arms & also are trying to change the constitution again to where a president may run for a 3rd term.
Look up: Watcher Times.

http://www.facebook.com/Yahushua146 Cesar Vera

He’s coming wake up, he’s almost at the door he’s name is Jesus Christ. Amen

http://www.facebook.com/people/Huckel-Berry/1642622562 Huckel Berry

The Euro benefits no country except Germany. Brussels makes more and more regulations which lead to higher unemployment. No one is in sympathy with high banker pay, but if they leave Europe then that means even more unemployed people. Brussels needs to think capitalism and bring regulations to a minimum and give people with great idea money for start ups. Lower taxes so people will buy more and stop adding to debt. lower government jobs and less government projects.